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The situation seems simple. A promise is made (by the "promisor") to someone (the "promisee"), that they will be rewarded in the promisor's Will for work or services carried out. Time passes, and the (now deceased) promisor has failed to follow through on their promise, leaving no such reward (or less than what was promised) in their Will. The promisee can then claim against the deceased's estate for the remuneration that was promised to them. Such claim is made under the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949.

The truism that charity begins at home might have been given a serious knock back going by the recent UK Supreme Court decision concerning an adult daughter's claim against her mother's estate in IIott v Mitson [2017] UKSC 17.